Wednesday, September 07, 2016

New USAU Event Scheduled During Typical AUDL Championship Time Frame

The dates and locations for USA Ultimate's newly-combined event of the U.S. Open Championships and the Youth Club Championships (YCC) have been announced. Starting in 2017 and running through 2019, the US Open + YCC events will be hosted in Blaine, Minnesota, in early August. The U.S. Open Ultimate Championships has always (since 2013) been hosted over the July 4th weekend holiday.

YEAR

AUDL

MLU

YCC

2012

August 11

August 11-12

2013

August 3-4

July 13

August 11-12

2014

July 26-27

July 19

August 8-9

2015

August 8-9

August 8

August 7-9

2016

August 6-7

July 16

August 12-14

YCC has been scheduled in the month of August for the past 10+ years. August is also when 4 of the 5 American Ultimate Disc League Championship games have been played; three of which have been in early August. Major League Ultimate typically schedule their Championship game in mid-July. The future dates for the U.S. Open + YCC event are now the first weekend in August.

Future Dates for USAU U.S. Open + YCC Event
2017: August 4-7
2018: August 3-6
2019: August 2-5

The new U.S. Open+YCC event might pose a scheduling conflict for the AUDL since players on semifinalist teams could have YCC coaching obligations and/or be participating with their club ultimate teams at the U.S. Open. As an example, two AUDL cities that played in the 2016 AUDL semifinals also played at the 2016 U.S. Open — Madison (Radicals/Club) and Seattle (Cascades/Sockeye).

The AUDL has options not limited to:
1. Shorten their regular season from 14 games to 12.
2. Schedule their Championship Weekend to late July.